Three Oaks charter school given 'probationary charter'

MUSKEGON — Three Oaks Academy charter school has been given a two-year “probationary” charter after showing concerted effort to improve student achievement.

The school will continue to be under review for the next two years, said Patrick Shannon, director of charter schools for Bay Mills Community College. The Upper Peninsula college is Three Oaks’ “authorizer” and issues the school’s charter contract that allows it to operate as a public school. The school opened in 2003 with an eight-year contract.

Two years ago, Shannon had issued the school a “notice of intent to revoke” the charter after he became alarmed by lagging test scores. He also was concerned by the school’s rapid growth — following the closure of TriValley Academy charter school in 2008 — to 437 students, which is far above the limit of 300 students in Three Oaks’ charter.

In response to Shannon’s concerns, the school cut sixth through eighth grades this year, trimming its enrollment to 300 students.

“I had some concerns where they were adding students at the same time their academics weren’t that good,” Shannon said.

Board President Carol Vanas said the school has been working hard to meet Bay Mills’ expectations, and to do the best for students.

“They wanted the academics up and the test scores up,” said Vanas. “We have put a lot into it ... It’s not an overnight thing. It takes planning.”

Shannon said the notice of intent to revoke was “pretty drastic” and took the board by surprise.

Three Oaks students’ performance on last fall’s Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests trailed state averages. The passing rates on math tests for Three Oaks’ fifth- through eighth-graders were 28 percent, 36 percent, 53 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Statewide passing rates averaged 76 percent. Fewer than half of Three Oaks’ fifth- through eighth-graders passed reading, compared with an average of 84 percent statewide.

By shedding sixth through eighth grades, Shannon said he hopes the school will improve academic performance. Test results for younger students have been closer to, but still lower than, state averages.